Printing and folding machine.



No. 779,136. PATENTE@ MN. s, 1905.

W. SCOTT. PRINTNG `AND FDLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 29. 1896.

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W. SCOTT.

PRINTING AND FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION P ILED FEB. 29, 1896.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES;

UNTTBD STATES Patented January 3, 19(J 5.,

ATnNT Train.

PRINTING AND FOLDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,138, dated January 3, 1905.

Application led'f'ebruary 29, 1896. Serial No. 581,239.

To o/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER SCOTT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing and Folding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of printing-machines wherein webs are perfected, cut, and folded one or more times and delivered as printed products, and has for its objects the production of copies containing two, four, six, eight, ten, and so on, increasing by two pages, to thirty-two pages or multiples thereof.

To this end this invention consists of combinations and arrangements of devices hereinafter more fully described, and set forth in the appended claims.

The preferred form of the invention is shown in the accompanying' drawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the cylinders of the printing-presses, parts of the folding and cutting mechanisms, and driving-gearing. Fig. 2 is a view looking toward the left from the right of Fig. 1, certain parts shown in Fig. 1 being omitted; and Fig. 3 is a like view of a modification.

Referring to the drawings, the referencenumerals 1 2 3 41 represent as many perfecting printing-presses arranged one above another with their cylinders in parallel planes. The reference-letters I indicate the impression-cylinders, the reference-letters T the type or plate cylinders, and the referenceletters D the ink-distributing cylinders. No

A more of the inking apparatus is shown, for the reason that this'apparatus is or may be of any usual or suitable character. For a like reason no framework is shown for supporting the various parts. The roll-spindles R R2 R3 R* are suitably supported at one end of the machine, and the websw' @02103 co4 therefrom are led over suitable rollers, as 5, to the presses 1, 2, 3, and 41, where they are perfected, and are then led around suitable rollers, as 6 7 8 9 10, in various ways, according to the product it is desired to deliver. From the rollers 10 the webs pass to the folding and cutting mechanisms, are formed there into the desired products, which are then delivered by suitable means to points whence they can be removed by an attendant. There are four longitudinal folding mechanisms F Gr H K shown in the drawings, each consisting of a former or internal guide V and drawing and folding rolls l f.

Beneath the rolls f are the cutting-cylinders C, which may partially or wholly sever sheets from the webs. Placed lower down than the cutting-cylinders C are the collecting and lfolding' mechanisms, which in the instance shown in the drawings are composed of the cylinder L, rollers Zi, and folding-blades 12. The cylinders L rotate on the axis a and are provided with well -known forms of sheetretainers. (not shown,) which are operated at suitable intervals by means equally well known. The folding-blades 12 may be of any suitable or known construction, and be operated at suitable times by old and well-known means and may be rendered wholly inactive when occasion demands. The construction indicated in the drawings for operating these folding-blades is more fully and specifically shown, described, and claimed in my prior Letters Patent, numbered 572,280, dated December l, 1896. These blades 12 are so driven that they revolve about the aXes c three (3) times, while cylinders L rotate two (2) times on axes a. These blades 12 are given a motion of rotation on their own axes by means of the gears g /L z'.

When the cylinders L are used for collecting sheets, the guides n may be, and preferably are, used to aid in keeping the sheets close to the cylinders L as the sheets approach the guides m. When the cylinders L are not used for collecting sheets, both blades 12 for that cylinder are active and fold off the sheets, the sheet-retainers on these cylinders being suitably operated therefor, while if these cylinders L are used to collect sheets one of the blades 12 for each cylinder is rendered inactive and the sheet-retainers are again suitably operated. As the operation of these coli lecting-cylinders L and blades 12, with apare or may be protruded and withdrawn at propriate operating mechanisms therefor, is fully set forth in my aforesaid patent, I refer thereto for a full and complete description thereof.

Returning to the cutting-cylinders C, the female cylinders are shown as being provided with suitable sheet-retainers, as pins p, which suitable times, orthe sheets may be stripped therefrom by the guides m, which enter grooves (not shown) in these cylinders. The sheets are carried around only so far by the pins p as to bring them in contact with the guides m, which direct them downward, the pins p either being withdrawn or the sheets being stripped from them by the guides m,

as will be understood. The folded sheets are.

taken from the rollers b by sets of tapes t .which respectively run on the rollers or pulleys 14 and 15 and run the sheetsl down on guides s, and the packers 16 (but one is shown, though all the deliveries are provided with them) drive the copies onto the traveling tapes 17, which are carried by the rollers or pulleys 18. This delivery mechanism is fully shown and described lin my Letters Patent numbered 571,982, dated November 24, 1896.

The reference letters q indicate Web-guiding rollers borne by the pivoted adjustable arms The printingpresses shown are double 'width-that is, of a width sulicient to carry four forms abreast. Their cylindersT are of a size sufficient to carry two circumferential forms. (Of course by decreasing. the size of the forms these numbers maybe multiplied.) The double-width webs may be made up of two single-width webs-that is, two rolls end to end-for the double-width presses, or they may be double width and splitters or cutters, as y, be used to divide the Webs longitudinally before they reach the folding or cutting mechanisms. 4

The cylinders of the presses and folding and cutting mechanisms are driven by suitable means, such as the shafts 20 21, bevelgearing 22, and spur-gearing 23.

The full lines on Fig. 1 indicate the courses of the webs when all the presses are running with double-width webs and four eight-page or four sixteen-page products are formed, while the dotted lines between the rollers 6 7 9 and 8 7 indicate how the webs may go to be associated in various ways.

Inrforming the four eight-page products above named all the presses are run with double-width webs, which are associated two by two and led to the four folders, being slitted longitudinally, if required, before they reach the folders. From each longitudinal half of two associated webs single eight-page copies are formed and folded off the cylindersL,

both folding-blades 12 on each cylinder being in use and the said cylinders doing no collecting. In forming the four sixteen-page products above named the webs are associated, slitted, and folded longitudinally, as in the case last named. In addition thereto, however, the cuts from the folded webs are collected as in my application, Serial No. 560,861, above named. To do this, one of the blades 12 of each cylinder L is rendered inoperative and the sheet-retainers and their operating mechanism are arranged as in my said application, as fully described. In producing copies having siX, ten, fourteen, eighteen, twentytwo, twenty-six, and thirty pages half-width Webs 0n one or more of the presses are used, and the two-page cuts therefrom are vcombined with the requisite number of four-page cuts to form the desired products with or without the use of collecting by means of the cylinders L.

In order to form copies from webs after the latter are folded longitudinally, the webs from the upper folders F G may be led about the roller q to the lower cutting-cylinders C (or to one pair of them) and there be associated with the webs from the lower folders H K to form the desired products. In this case (of using rollers q) the webs from the upper rollers q pass between the folders H K close against the roller 10, but do not interfere with the webs on the foldersH K. The formers V may be slightly cut away here to allow of the proper clearance of the Webs from the upper rollers q.

In the case of the upper sets of folding, cutting, and delivery mechanisms the cylindersL are placed inside the cutting-cylinders and the deliveries are made in opposite directions. In the case of the lower folding, cutting, and delivery mechanisms these cylinders L are both to the right in Fig. 1 of the cutting-cylinders C and the deliveries are toward the same side of the machine and one above another. This brings three of the four deliveries one above another. The folded products from the lower right-hand cylinder L may be led to and be associated withthe products on the lower left-hand cylinder L by means of the tapes t t and removable guides 0, the sheet-retainers on the lower left-hand cylinder L being suitably timed and operated. Thus when matter delivered by the lower right-hand cylinderL between the rollers L' is to be associated with matter delivered by the lower left-hand cylinder L the guides 0 direct the folded cuts onto the last-mentioned cylinder underl the tapes t, whereupon the last named cylinder, the tapes t, and the guides n direct the cuts down to the rollers 7) Z2 at the left of the lower left-hand cylinder L, where they are inserted in the cuts folded off by said cylinder between said rollers b. 1t is remarked that the cylinders L may be constructed and may operate like the cylinder C of said Patent No. 572,280, to which IOO IZO

reference is made for a more detailed illustration thereof. v

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 the folded cuts from an upper folding and cutting mechanism, as F, is taken by the tapes t t and guides s out around the end of the roller 10 of a lower mechanism to a delivery close above the delivery from such lower folding and cutting mechanism, where both deliveries are convenient of reach from the floor or a platform. I

It is obvious that the internal guides V may be considered to be or may be replaced by turning-bars for changing the planes of the webs as they pass to the cutting-cylinders C, so that the webs need not be folded longitudinally, but may receive their only fold from the knives 12 and rollers 5 This would be true of the construction shown in the case of half-width webs so run through the presses that they come only on one side of the guides V, and it is obvious that two-page copies may thus be produced and that by collecting fourpage copies may be had. It is also obvious that other forms of collecting or folding mechanisms may be used to get the same resultsfor instance, but one pair of folding and drawing rolls may be used with each former Vwand that many other changes in parts of combinations may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention. Accordingly .l do not limit myself to the form thereof shown in the drawings and hereinbefore described.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a plurality of double-width perfecting-presses arranged one above another and each perfecting its own web,.of a plurality of longitudinally-folding and transversely cutting and folding mechanisms arranged by pairs on different levels at one end of'said presses, a delivery mechanism lfor each folder, and means for guiding the webs folded by the upper folders to and associating them with a web or the webs folded by the remainder of the folders, whereby the associated folded webs are cut by the same mechanism or mechanisms, substantially as described` 2. The combination of side-by-side longitudinally-folding and transversely cutting and folding mechanisms, two receivers placed one above the other at one side of said mechanisms,

'means for associating the products of one mechanism, and means f or delivering said products separately to said receivers, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a plurality of doublewidth perfecting-presses arranged one above another, two parallel guides l() one above the other at one end of said presses, and four webcutting and sheet-folding mechanisms arranged by pairs on different levels, said pairs being one over the other, with three deliveries at one side and a fourth delivery at the other side of the machine, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a plurality of doublewidth perfecting-presses arranged one above another,'of two parallel guides l() arranged one above the other at one end of said presses, four longitudinally-folding, web-cutting, and sheet-folding mechanisms arranged in pairs on different levels, and mechanism for associating the upper folded webs with lower folded webs prior to the cutting of either, substantially as described.

5. rlhe combination with a plurality of double-.width perfecting printing-presses arranged one above another, of four longitudinal folders arranged by pairs on different levels and vertically over each other at one end of the presses, a transversely cutting and folding mechanism for each folder, means for guiding the upper webs to and associating them With either of the webs from the lower folders prior to the cutting thereof, three deliveries at one side and one at the other side of the machine, and means for associating the products from one lower transverse folder with those of the other lower transverse folder, substantially as described.

6. The combination with two pairs of longitudinally folding, transversely cutting and folding mechanisms arranged one above the other, the members of the upper pair being separated from each other by a clear space, of pairs of guide-rollers arranged centrally of and above each of said Apairs of mechanisms for directing the upper webs downward and to and associating them with the lower webs prior to the cutting of either, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in vthe county of New York and State of New York, this 26th day of February, A. D. 1896.

WALTER SCOTT.

Witnesses:

R. W. BARKLEY, FRANK RYALL.

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